Pakistan concerned over India’s Kashmir map bill, asks UN to act

Islamabad, May 17 (IANS) Pakistan on Tuesday expressed “serious concern” to the United Nations over the Indian government’s efforts to pass a bill which aims to restrict geographical depiction of India and the “disputed” region of Jammu and Kashmir.

Under the draft “Geospatial Information Regulation Bill”, anyone distributing a map that the Indian government deems to be “wrong” could be liable for a billion-rupee fine and jail time.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said India’s “incorrect and legally untenable” official map, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, displays the Pakistani side of Jammu and Kashmir as part of India.

Through passage of this Bill, the Indian government would be able to penalise individuals and organisations “who depict Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions”.

A letter sent to the UN in this regard by Pakistan’s permanent representative in New York calls on the world body to uphold the Security Council resolutions, and urges India “to stop acts that are in violation of international law”.

Pakistan also urged the international community and the UN to fulfil its commitment to the people of Jammu and Kashmir by holding an independent and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the UN.

The bill, according to various media reports, states that a licence will be needed to “acquire, disseminate, publish or distribute” maps, which means services like Google Maps and Apple Maps could have to apply for permits.

Last year, the government took the Al Jazeera news channel off air for nearly a week, saying it had repeatedly shown incorrect maps of Kashmir.

In 2011 it ordered The Economist magazine to cover up a map of the disputed borders in Kashmir. The news weekly placed white stickers over a diagram of the borders in 28,000 copies on sale in India. Google has also run into problems with Indian authorities over maps.

In 2014, the national surveying agency filed a complaint against the company for displaying varying maps of India on its different country webpages.